I know I should admire Serena for stuff like this (actually I do, but very grudgingly), but it rankles me every time. It does make me that much prouder of Sam for pulling off that famous victory at the same stage in '10

My good friend who has been in Paris with me the past week left for London today via Train. He got off in London and Sammy got off the same train as him which means she has arrived in London rather early. Unfortunately I haven't trained him very well and he didn't take photos nor go chat with her.

My good friend who has been in Paris with me the past week left for London today via Train. He got off in London and Sammy got off the same train as him which means she has arrived in London rather early. Unfortunately I haven't trained him very well and he didn't take photos nor go chat with her.

WC to a grass tourney coming up perhaps?

I hope so. At least it kind of suggests that Sam is taking the grass season pretty seriously, otherwise she would have no reason to go to London this early. Although it could also be just that Sam find it easier to be in London where she speaks the lingo than in France where she doesn't. Don't suppose you friend noticed whether DT was with her? Not that that would necessarily mean anything, I have no idea whether they normally travel together or not.

My good friend who has been in Paris with me the past week left for London today via Train. He got off in London and Sammy got off the same train as him which means she has arrived in London rather early. Unfortunately I haven't trained him very well and he didn't take photos nor go chat with her.

WC to a grass tourney coming up perhaps?

Outstanding job, Adomoose....you've at least trained him well enough to notice such things and report them to you!

At least we know more now than we did before about her *possible* plans. She obviously didn't have enough clay matches under her belt before RG, so I think it's very believable that she would try to get more grass time before Wimby. Hell, at this point, she just needs more matches period.

Still no sign of Sam requesting any WCs. Strategically she really should try to get one next week (Birmingham or Nuremburg), because that could affect her Wimbledon seeding. I just looked at the projected rankings for next week and Sam is in equal 14th spot with Bartoli, but ranks 11-16 are all really close together.

A SF next week would probably be enough to get her a top 12 seeding, which would allow her to avoid the top 4 until at least the QF. If she stays where she is (or goes lower), she's almost certain to draw one of them in R4 should she get that far.

Considering the fact that she's never gotten that far in the past I suppose we would be happy with a R4 loss, but why rule out the possibility of going deeper, if all you need for that is a handful of wins against journeywomen at an MM?

I've always admired Sam's refusal to vulture points in the past, but there comes a point when it becomes foolish not to do it. I really hope she does the smart thing here.

I've always admired Sam's refusal to vulture points in the past, but there comes a point when it becomes foolish not to do it. I really hope she does the smart thing here.

Ditto. And we all know how that worked for USO 11. However her season was disrupted through no fault of her own with injury, and considering shes not a regular vulture she should see it as okay just this once.